Curiosity's view of Martian soil and boulders after crossing the "Dingo Gap" sand dune (February 9, 2014; image transformed to Earth-like atmospheric view, original image).
Martian soil is the fine regolith (a blanket of unconsolidated, loose, heterogeneous superficial deposits covering solid rock) found on the surface of Mars. Its properties can differ significantly from those of terrestrial soil, including its toxicity due to the presence of perchlorates. The term Martian soil typically refers to the finer fraction of regolith. So far, no samples have been returned to Earth, the goal of a Mars sample-return mission, but the soil has been studied remotely with the use of Mars rovers and Mars orbiters.
On Earth, the term "soil" usually includes organic content.[1] In contrast, planetary scientists adopt a functional definition of soil to distinguish it from rocks.[2] Rocks generally refer to 10 cm scale and larger materials (e.g., fragments, breccia, and exposed outcrops) with high thermal inertia, with areal fractions consistent with the Viking Infrared Thermal Mapper (IRTM) data, and immobile under current aeolian (wind) conditions.[2] Consequently, rocks classify as grains exceeding the size of cobbles on the Wentworth scale.
This approach enables agreement across Martian remote sensing methods that span the electromagnetic spectrum from gamma to radio waves. ‘‘Soil’’ refers to all other, typically unconsolidated, material including those sufficiently fine-grained to be mobilized by wind.[2] Soil consequently encompasses a variety of regolith components identified at landing sites. Typical examples include: bedform (a feature that develops at the interface of fluid and a moveable bed such as ripples and dunes), clasts (fragments of pre-existing minerals and rock such as sediment deposits), concretions, drift, dust, rocky fragments, and sand. The functional definition reinforces a recently proposed generic definition of soil on terrestrial bodies (including asteroids and satellites) as an unconsolidated and chemically weathered surficial layer of fine-grained mineral or organic material exceeding centimeter scale thickness, with or without coarse elements and cemented portions.[1]
Martian dust generally connotes even finer materials than Martian soil, the fraction which is less than 30 micrometres in diameter. Disagreement over the significance of soil's definition arises due to the lack of an integrated concept of soil in the literature. The pragmatic definition "medium for plant growth" has been commonly adopted in the planetary science community but a more complex definition describes soil as "(bio)geochemically/physically altered material at the surface of a planetary body that encompasses surficial extraterrestrial telluric deposits." This definition emphasizes that soil is a body that retains information about its environmental history and that does not need the presence of life to form.
^ abCertini, Giacomo; Ugolini, Fiorenzo C. (2013). "An updated, expanded, universal definition of soil". Geoderma. 192: 378–379. Bibcode:2013Geode.192..378C. doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2012.07.008.
^ abcKarunatillake, Suniti; Keller, John M.; Squyres, Steven W.; Boynton, William V.; Brückner, Johannes; Janes, Daniel M.; Gasnault, Olivier; Newsom, Horton E. (2007). "Chemical compositions at Mars landing sites subject to Mars Odyssey Gamma Ray Spectrometer constraints". Journal of Geophysical Research. 112 (E8): E08S90. Bibcode:2007JGRE..112.8S90K. doi:10.1029/2006JE002859.
Martiansoil is the fine regolith (a blanket of unconsolidated, loose, heterogeneous superficial deposits covering solid rock) found on the surface of...
Earth Mars in fiction § Life on Mars Martian craters Martian dichotomy Martian geyser Martian gullies Martiansoil Mineralogy of Mars Ore resources on...
showing Martiansoil to be slightly alkaline and containing elements such as magnesium, sodium, potassium and chlorine. These nutrients are found in soils on...
atmosphere. What was thought to be low-volume liquid brines in shallow Martiansoil, also called recurrent slope lineae, may be grains of flowing sand and...
ionizing radiation. Mars has in-situ resources, such as underground water, Martiansoil, and ore, which could be used by colonists. Opportunities to generate...
features resembling ancient shorelines, and the chemical properties of the Martiansoil and atmosphere. Early Mars would have required a denser atmosphere and...
Martian regolith simulant (or Martiansoil simulant) is a terrestrial material that is used to simulate the chemical and mechanical properties of Martian...
drawing some Martiansoil and then release oxygen-producing microorganisms to grow within the sealed soil. The hardware would use Martian subsurface ice...
these conclusions are supported by in situ analyses of rocks and soils on the Martian surface. Much of what we know about the elemental composition of...
to form. Amazonis Planitia Dark slope streaks Geology of Mars HiRISE Martiansoil Atmospheric dust Smith, Peter; Renno, Nilton (6 June 2001). "Studying...
Magnetic field of Mars Mars Geyser Hopper Martian craters Martian dichotomy Martian geyser Martian gullies Martiansoil Mineralogy of Mars Ore resources on...
J.; MSL Science Team (2013). "Insights into the Sulfur Mineralogy of MartianSoil at Rocknest, Gale Crater, Enabled by Evolved Gas Analyses". 44th Lunar...
analyze the components of untreated Martiansoil, and particularly those components that are released as the soil is heated to different temperatures...
tan, and greenish, depending on minerals. The apparent colour of the Martian surface enabled humans to distinguish it from other planets early in human...
the Martian surface. These features include extensive lava flows, vast lava plains, and the largest known volcanoes in the Solar System. Martian volcanic...
snow samples from Florida and Lubbock, Texas. It is also present in Martiansoil. Naturally occurring perchlorate at its most abundant can be found commingled...
late 20th century, have yielded a large increase in knowledge about the Martian system, focused primarily on understanding its geology and habitability...
could measure the composition and abundance of organic compounds in the Martiansoil. The results were surprising and interesting: the spectrometer gave a...
on Mars Life on Mars Magnetic field of Mars Martian craters Martian dichotomy Martian gullies Martiansoil Mineralogy of Mars Ore resources on Mars Selenography...
mafic type, similar to other Martiansoils and Martian dust, was associated with hydration of the amorphous phases of the soil. Also, perchlorates, the presence...
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